'A right-wing alliance against sustainability?'

...Unlike the group of predominantly German EPP MEPs led by Angelika Niebler, her Swedish EPP colleague Jörgen Warborn is not calling for the complete abolition of the CSDDD. Nevertheless, he too is threatening to vote with the far-right factions if the S&D, Greens and Renew do not make sufficient concessions to the EPP.

However, the German CDU/CSU group, with its 29 MEPs, is the largest and most dominant group within the EPP and provides with Manfred Weber (CSU) the party and group leader. Whether the EPP ultimately abolishes the CSDDD with the help of the ECR and other far-right groups or completely undermines it will likely depend not least on German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Although he himself called for the abolition of the CSDDD in Brussels, the German Federal Government he leads has at the same time spoken out in favor of maintaining and implementing the CSDDD in its coalition agreement.

The coming weeks will show how much the CDU/CSU’s commitments to the firewall [against the far right] are still worth. Will it seek a compromise with the democratic center that at least preserves the core content of the CSDDD? Or will it finally tear down the firewall to reverse the CSDDD and other core elements of the Green Deal? The latter would send a fatal signal: for human rights, the environment, the climate, and the political future of the EU, as well as for Germany in the medium term.